September Covers
From WWD.com
FACES AND NAMES: Though fashion magazines' September issues seem to contain ads for every clothing label under the sun, usually only one glamorous gal gets to grace the cover. And in surveying this year's choices, it appears that editors, like gentlemen, definitely prefer blondes. Sienna Miller is on the cover of September Vogue, its biggest issue ever. Apparently editor in chief Anna Wintour is a huge fan of the British actress — Miller also appeared on the magazine's January 2006 cover. In Style spotlights Gwen Stefani, while W (also with its biggest issue ever) has Gwyneth Paltrow.
Marie Claire opts for Ashley Olsen; Vanity Fair features supermodel Gisele Bündchen, and Harper's Bazaar photographed Kate Hudson.
Allure and Elle made more controversial choices. Allure chose pop tart gone wild Britney Spears. Why would a magazine about beauty put on its cover an unstable woman who shaved her own head, went to rehab and is a regular on celebrity weeklies' worst dressed lists? Editor in chief Linda Wells explained in her editor's letter: "I thought we could present the profile as her comeback. Perhaps Britney's story would be redemptive, like those of Angelina Jolie, Drew Barrymore and Mariah Carey before her." Instead, Britney took the photos and bailed — she missed four scheduled interviews with writer Judith Newman, and the accompanying comeback story went untold. Newman instead penned a story about the state of celebrities in 2007, and Allure crafted the cover line "Britney Spears: Tells Us Nothing and Everything."
Elle, meanwhile, shot wild child Lindsay Lohan, a decision that already has caused a stir among media observers, given the actress' arrest for the second time on July 24 on charges of drunken driving and possession of a controlled substance.
But it isn't only blondes who are having fun in September. A few titles did choose raven-haired cover girls — Jessica Alba will appear on Cosmopolitan's cover, Redbook has Brooke Shields and Cookie features Angie Harmon and her two kids. Glamour, on newsstands Aug. 7, went both ways with Claire Danes (blonde), Mariska Hargitay (brunette) and Queen Latifah (brunette and African-American), while Lucky opted for Sarah Michelle Gellar.
On the teen beat, Seventeen photographed Ashlee Simpson and CosmoGirl will publish a split cover with "High School Musical" stars Ashley Tisdale and Zac Efron. Over at Teen Vogue, meanwhile, Wintour proves she isn't carrying a grudge after "The Devil Wears Prada": the magazine's cover girl is that movie's star, Anne Hathaway. — Stephanie D. Smith